No Rescue Needed [Zander]

[Deleted]

-Mid August-

Magdalena knew she wasn't in a good situation. When she'd graduated only a few short months earlier, the first place willing to hire her had been Club Indigo. A still fairly new wizarding nightclub in London. She'd been so desperate to get out of that house, the one that she'd grown up in, that she'd taken it, despite the protest of her friends and brother. With the meager salary she was making, she was able to afford a small one bedroom apartment for herself. It wasn't in the best part of town, but she didn't care. She'd stopped caring when her world got ripped apart.

In the few months she'd been working at the club, Magdalena had learned quickly. She was still one of the newer dancers, but she was doing well. She made plenty of tips each time, and patrons were always willing to buy her drinks. Basically, in some sense, she got paid to forget about all the bad things going on in her life, and just have a good time. In her half drunk mind, she was doing pretty well. Nothing was wrong anymore. She was doing just fine, and she wanted it to stay that way. What could she possibly be missing?

Tonight was nearing it's end, most of the customers and patrons having already left for the night. Magdalena herself sat at the bar, a shot glass in her hand. Most the other dancers were done for the night, a few thought were still entertaining some of the determined patrons, or helping the completely wasted ones get a taxi. She wasn't that drunk tonight, but she was definitely far from sober. With a sigh, she raised the shot and downed it. She should be heading home. She was basically off at this point, but a few more drinks wouldn't hurt. Setting the shot glass down on the counter she motioned for the bartender to fix another...

@zander (finally got this up, haha.)

[Deleted]

It was a good thing Zander isn't a violent person, otherwise someone easily could have died this night. He had lost track of Magi, of most of his friends, when Bay died and with graduation and disappearing with his hidden girlfriend and all. When it finally came to him where Mag was, Zander almost flipped his lid. But, being the passive person he was, he knew getting mad at her would be stupid. he needed to care for her, show her he loved her. And that was the only reason that he was in this club right now.

He did not want to be here, but it seemed there was no helping it. He would have come sooner, but he honestly was dreading it all day. So here he was, wondering around this horrible place until he finally caught sight of her. That wasn't before seeing her dancing up on stage with someone else, thoguh, someone who looked familiar but a little strange...

now, thankfully, Mag wasn't on stage. he crossed over to where she sat at the bar and quickly took the seat beside her before anyone else good. "Magi," he said in greeting but his tone was that of heartbreak. he hated this.

@magdalena

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Magdalena didn't even notice that someone had taken the stool next to her. No, she was to occupied downing another shot in one go. Before she could even consider asking for a third though, she heard a voice that tugged on one of her heart strings. She almost didn't even feel it though, the alcohol making her head buzz and her feelings seem numb and forgotten. But that didn't mean she didn't recognize him still. She'd recognize that voice anywhere. Seven years of friendship. Seven years of classes, and fun, and everything else. Heck, she'd known Zander even before then. She'd been in the shop that summer he'd bought his wand. Even now she knew it's measurements by heart. Setting the shot glass down, she tilted her head, gazing out of the corner of her eyes at her friend.

"Oh, look who finally decided to rejoin the world of the living." That was one thing about her drinking. When she was this drunk, she got mean. Totally stoned, she tended to be loose and happy, but she wasn't quite to that stage yet. Her head tilted a bit more then, her eyes narrowing a little. "There's something on your face." She noted. He'd grown a mustache. She'd almost missed it in the low light.

@zander

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She set the glass down at looked at him, but she clearly wasn't that committed. Then she called him out on not being around, which didn't surprise him. well, that fact that it was Mag saying it but the fact of the matter was, he had disappeared. He deserved to be called out on it. Her head tilted and she mentioned something being on his face and, instinctively, his hand flew up to touch his face only to find his new mustache.

He chuckled, lowering his hand and tilting his own head, "and what of you? Working in a crowded place and drinking... what is that?" he gestured to her drink, almost not wanting to know the answer. He was horrified by this sight. Magdalena, sweet Magdalena, lost in a dark place with people Zander didn't trust.

@magdalena

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For having shut everyone oh and becoming a hermit, Zander didn't actually look that bad. In fact, looked.... Well happy. Good. Normal. As of his usual self. Magdalena should be happy about her friend being 'back', but she just couldn't. She couldn't muster the energy to be glad to see him. Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was how insane her life had been the past few months. Maybe because he'd just disappeared and now he was back, wanting to act like everything was normal. Either way, whatever her reason she wasn't happy or glad.

"People have to work to survive, Zander." she almost snapped. She could hear he disapprovement in his voice. It didn't really surprise her that he didn't like the club, she never would have thought he'd come to one. "That is the house drink." was her short response. Basically meaning, she didn't know what they put in it, just that it was strong and it was the signature drink. Running her fingers through her hair, she turned to face him. "What are you doing here, Zander? We both know you aren't a drinker, or a clubber." this wasn't his scene. At all. So why was he here..?

@zander

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She was half snapping at him, her tone cold. He frowned, brow furrowing with worry once again as she answered that it was the house drink, which didn't help out that much. He nodded slowly, turning away for just a second, catching his breath, and turning back to her. "I came because I heard you were here. I wanted to see you," it was the flat out truth, maybe not all of it, "I just wanted to see how you were doing... I miss you, Mag," he chewed on his lip for a moment before reaching his hand out and setting in up on the bar, "so, how are you?" it felt stupid to ask, but he couldn't just assume, could he? He needed to give her a chance to explain herself, if she wanted to. He felt sick about all of this, but he didn't want her to see that. But, Zan wore his heart on his sleeve.

@magdalena

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Zander came to see her?

If she'd been sober, she would have been surprise, and touched. She would have been happy even. They'd been friends since first year. And yet.... Since April it seemed like none of that mattered. He'd gone missing, kidnapped. And when he was rescued he locked himself up at his parents, only coming back in time for their exams. He'd been... well emotionally dead. A completely different person. She'd tried to be there for him, but he'd just shut down and wouldn't let anyone in. And then.... everything else that happened...

"Oh, you know. Living up the whole 'Murderer's daughter' image. Pretty sure I got it down by this point." was her sarcastic and aggressive comeback. She didn't even know if Zander knew what happened. After all, her mother had died right before exams, when Zander was still not talking to anyone, and news of her fathers arrest had been right after exams, when Zander had gone back home. She knew he'd been having a hard time. He'd been kidnapped for crying out loud! But she'd needed someone when all of that was going on.

@zander

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Zander winced at her words, only slightly. So much death and murder... it made his heart ache. Especially since Mags was involved. "You..." she had sounded so harsh, so bitter, he wasn't sure what to say. He didn't actually know the whole story, but he did know about the arrest and the charge of murder. He didn't know about her mother though, which is why he said this, "how is your mum doing with all this, Mags? Surely she needs you, right?" he guessed sweetly and innocently. He couldn't imagine being a parent and knowing that your child was working and hanging out in a place like this. The thought of being a parent at all in the world right now was scary enough without worrying about this.

@magdalena

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Magdalena froze, her blood ran cold, and she felt as if her entire body went numb. Thankfully she hadn't been looking at him when he asked her about her mother. How she was handling this and that she needed Magi. Her frozen stupor lasted only a moment before she managed to glance down at her own hands on the bar top. They'd turned white from clenching tightly together. Forcing then to relax, she motioned for the bar tender to get her another drink. She still wasn't looking at Zander. Only after she downed the contents of the shot glass placed in front of her did she dare to look at her friend. Her expression was... Almost void all emotion except this spark of raw anger in her eyes. Not at Zander though. At the question, and at the answer. At her father. At what he'd done.

"About as well as anyone ten feet under ground." she snapped. "Dead people don't need that much." She didn't say that her mother had been murdered. Or that her father had been arrested for her murder, but it was pretty obvious that was what she meant.

@zander

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Zander froze as well as she did. He couldn’t see her face, but he could tell something was wrong. His blood was like ice when she downed the drink. Then she turned to look at him and suddenly he couldn't breathe. She was... empty, yet so, so angry. He caught that breath, his hands instinctively moving to the sides of his chair.

"About as well as anyone ten feet under ground. Dead people don't need that much." His eyes widened and one hand slowly landed on chest and the other covered his mouth. He shook his head, lowered his hands, and finally spoke. His voice was small, ”Magi... Magdalena, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. Mag please,” his hand that was on his chest suddenly whipped out the grab the glass in front of her, ”let’s leave. Let’s do something together. Come on, please.”

@magdalena

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That was about all Magdalena felt anymore. A cold emptiness, and anger. Whenever she felt more, it felt like there was a weight on her shoulder and she'd drink until it went away. She didn't want to face her real emotions and thoughts. Or come to terms with everything that had happened. She was the daughter of a psychotic murderer, what else was there to know or feel? How could she feel any sort of love or attachment to a man that had so cruelly taken away her mother? How could she feel any sort of happiness knowing that her entire childhood, of thinking her family was perfectly happy and normal was a complete lie? She couldn't. So, she'd rather not feel anything at all.

Magdalena felt a sick joy at Zander's reaction. That shock and horror. It made her feel even sicker, knowing that for a moment she'd actually felt happy about hurting her friend. It must be the alcohol. He recovered quickly though, snatching the newest glass away before she could retrieve it herself. "Kind of hard to know that kind of stuff when you cut off all ties to your friends and go hide under a rock." Magi snapped. Yes, she knew he'd been through a lot. He really had. And yet despite that he seemed perfectly normal and she hated that. That somehow he managed to move on like nothing had happened despite what he went through. But also how he'd just disappeared. She'd wanted to be there for him. After everything that happened, and he was just... just gone. In her drunken state, it felt like he'd abandoned her and everyone else. And now he was back, expecting everything to be the same?

As he almost begged her that they should leave and go do something, she raised an eyebrow. Resting her elbow on the counter, she balanced her chest against her hand and stared at him with that same cold angry look as before. "Why?" She bluntly asked after a moment.

@zander

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Magi's next words were like a sharp, hot iron burning through his chest and coming out the other side. He wanted to fight back, somewhere, to say she didn't know what he had gone through but... in reality, she'd gone through it too. With a mother rather than a girlfriend, which was completely different and probably worse. Sure Zanders entire heart had been shattered, his lungs crushed and his soul ripped out of him, but Magi was going through the same thing. He couldn't yell at her, it wasn't in his nature. Instead he just begged her to leave with him, to go somewhere else. She was silent for a moment before asking why. "Because I love you, Mags," he said, reaching a hand out in an attempt to rest it on her shoulder, "come on. Stop drinking that stuff," he pleaded again.

@magdalena
(i jsut can't with tbus thread. btw we need a happy thread for these two)

[Deleted]

Magdalena neither moved, looked away, or even blink while she waited for an answer. Part of her wanted him to say something stupid that she could go after him for, but instead he came out with a sincere and heart wrenching response. Even with her head buzzing and feeling emotionally numb from the drinking she felt just the slightest of flutter in her stomach. Regardless of everything that had happened they were still friends. Had been for years. She didn't respond but her eyes did narrow ever so slightly. It'd been a while since she'd felt that, drunk or sober. But, to be honest? She'd rarely been sober enough to feel it before now. She was't sober though, so maybe it was just stronger then usual. Then, Zander went on to plead that she stop drinking.

Slowly Magdalena sighed and finally pushed the shot glass away, silently telling the bar tender she as done. "Fine." She muttered. She didn't know why she was agreeing. Maybe it was just habit. Brushing his hand off her shoulder she slipped off the stool and took a few steps. She stumbled just a little, enough to hint at just how drunk she was but at least she wasn't collapsing.

@zander

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Never had Zander felt so much relief at hearing the word 'fine'. She had pushed the glass away and he breathed an obvious sigh of relief. She brushed his hand away, but he expected that. She moved and it took him a moment to register and he stood to follow. She stumbled, but he didn't reach for her, afraid for a moment that she'd just push him away again. "Fresh air sounds good," he suggested. He moved beside her, offering his hand if she would take it as they walked, making sure he was completely accessible.

Soon they were outside, and the cold night air smacked into their faces, causing Zander to feel instantly better for a moment. Then he turned to look at Magi, "I have... a secret. I just wanted to tell someone. I think maybe, tell you, might make you understand how much I want to stay friends," he started to explain. He wouldn't give her all the details, of course not, but if they got far enough from this club there was a bit that he could share... hopefully.

@magdalena

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Zander suggesting fresh air wasn't surprising. His offering a hand though was though. Magdalena stopped to stare at him for a moment, that same spiteful look in her eyes. After a moment though she sighed and took the offered hand. Just to keep herself steady she told herself.

Once outside Magdalena took a slow and deep breath, her eyes closing as she inhaled and exhales. Only after did her eyes reopened and look upward at the dark sky. There were too many street lights to see any stars. As Zander started to speak her gaze dropped to finally meet his. "A secret." she repeated, wariness in her voice. "Considering everything, you'd have to have a pretty good one to convince me."

@zander